Vishing is a silly-sounding sort of a word, and it's clearly going to be something to do with phishing, isn't it?
Well, yes, it is. It's phishing done by telephone. Someone - a person, or, more usually, an automated message - will pretend to be from some trustworthy institution, like a bank or a utility company (do feel free to interject hollow laughter at this point) in an attempt to extract enough personal details to make a quick spring clean of the recipient's bank account.
Who'd fall for that?
Only the inexperienced, naive, vulnerable, elderly or innocent. No one important, in fact.
Now, I don't dispute that it's useful to have some word to describe that activity.
But I wish it wasn't one that made the whole process sound so much like a joke. Especially when we have phone scam to make things plain and easy.
Word Not To Use Today: vishing. This word is a mix-up of voice and phishing. Phishing is basically the same word as fishing, because of the way both involve trailing bait in order to catch a prize. The word vishing is an early twenty first century invention.
Thank you, Hema. My very elderly father was the victim of many attempts at vishing, so this comes from the heart.
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